Praying For France

Attacks again, naturally.

Thank you for praying for us since Sunday. How do we know? Well we have felt the presence of your prayers and seen the evidence of them over the last couple of days.

Just to remind you:

Cafe Church is THIS Sunday May 22nd. Tea and Cake from 5pm and then the fellowship and worship time from 5:30 for about an hour. “About” an hour, because I feel that I should give a slightly longer talk than usual this week. Please still come! The talk is entitled “Related to Royalty” and longer means about 20minutes.

Then the Gospel Concert with Graham Kendrick is just a couple of weeks away on Friday June 3rd. 7:45 for 8pm. Doors will be open from 7:15 and those who are stewarding will have a reserved seat so you won’t have to stand all night if the place is full.

So far we have about 310 bookings and 300 seats.

Pam and I drove back to France on Sunday after Morning service in Tunbridge Wells. With all the activity and outreach planned, it was inevitable that there would be some problems. We should all be used to it by now. Our problems were manifest in a dangerous situation in traffic whilst still in the U.K. Then, when we arrived here around midnight, we found that we had problems with some parts of our electricity supply and the heating system. We learnt today that a severe thunder storm in recent days would have caused the electricity failure.

Well, your prayers have been effective. We were kept safe on the road. Apart from losing the food in the freezer and having to clean it all (overdue anyway) the electricity problem is solved. One boiler seemed to “heal” itself and the other one, next door, is now back functioning again. Then today a small accident whilst sharpening tools resulted in nothing that a plaster couldn’t deal with.

So thank you for praying.

The weather out here in France has been very dry but colours are stunning, the bird song is louder than ever and we are already slowing down to a more sensible pace of life.

We are writing a separate email to some of you to ask for some help with driving musicians to various places, stewarding at the concert and helping take up the retiring offering. Do let me know if you have ordered tickets for the concert but not yet received them. They were sent out very efficiently on May 4th but, of course, some never get back from cyber space!

Please continue to pray for the concert and also for the Summer Church programme where Cafe Church meets EVERY Sunday from June 26 and right through July and August. We do have an enemy who is still very active but he is defeated every time by prayer.

There is the usual Bring and Share meal here at “Chaupine” in Bouniagues, this Sunday. Please let us know if you hope to come to that and we’ll set enough places for lunch at 1pm. The pool is open and so there should be time for a swim after lunch and before Cafe Church. It all sounds so idyllic doesn’t it?

Lots of love until we see you again,

Derek and Pam